


New Lessons

by eriah211



Category: Primeval
Genre: Gen, Season/Series 01, Stranded, Team, Teambuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 17:03:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10518057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eriah211/pseuds/eriah211
Summary: Set in series 1, when everything and everybody was new and shiny. Ryan gets stranded in the other side of an anomaly with an unexpected team member.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the wonderful fredbassett for the beta. Any remaining mistakes are mine.
> 
> Posted originally on Livejournal in 2015. Written for the Primeval Denial Art Challenge 2015, using a great art by fififolle

 

It had been pouring nonstop for a few hours and then, as suddenly as it had started, the rain stopped completely. Then the sun started shining brightly and about half an hour later Ryan was already baking inside his wet fatigues. Rex seemed quite happy with the whole situation, though, and was chirping happily under the sun.  
  
Ryan was mortified because the whole situation had really been his fault. All those lectures to his men about being careful and never getting too far away from a weakening anomaly and it had to be him to be the first of his team to get stuck in the past because he had been too far away when an anomaly had closed.  
  
To be totally honest, Helen had been partly to blame for this, but it had been his decision to go after her when she ran away, even though he knew the anomaly was already losing strength. He had lost her anyway and had got stuck in the Carboniferous as a bonus. He didn’t think Lester was going to be happy at all about it. God, how much he hated that woman!  
  


 

***

 

  
That morning they had been checking a supposedly unproblematic anomaly that had been opening regularly for the last weeks in a fortunately hidden corner of Epping Forest. He had been babysitting Professor Cutter when, out of nowhere, Helen had appeared to tease them and wrap Cutter in another of her lies. She had run away as soon as Ryan had made clear his intention of taking her back to the ARC by force, if necessary, and he hadn’t been able to restrain himself. That woman had given them the slip more than once already and he didn’t want it to happen again.  
  
Ryan had been faster, but again, Helen had had some tricks up her sleeve. When Ryan had thought he was about to catch her, she had made a sharp turn around one of the trees and when Ryan had followed her, the ground had given way beneath him. As he had discovered while he fell, tumbling down without control, he had been running on the edge of a cliff, but the vegetation was so thick that he hadn’t noticed until he had stepped over it.  
  
Fortunately for him, the same thick vegetation had softened the impact and when he had finally stopped rolling down, he was covered in scratches and felt dizzy, but nothing was broken. When he had managed to stand up and look around, though, he had realised that he was alone and didn’t know how to get back to the anomaly site.  
  
Well, he wasn’t really alone. For some reason, Rex, that small lizard Abby Maitland insisted on keeping as a pet, had followed him and was flying above him in circles. Eventually he had landed on top of a fallen tree trunk nearby and stayed there looking at him with curiosity, while Ryan tried to clear his head.  
  
It hadn’t taken Ryan long to realise that he wasn’t going to be able to go up the cliff on his own, so he was going to have to find an alternative way up to get to the anomaly site. It hadn’t taken him long either to realize that he wasn’t going to make it on time. If the anomaly had been stable enough, his men would have come looking for him, but he hadn’t seen anybody. They had probably already been given the order to go back through the anomaly.  
  
It could have been worse, Ryan had thought, much worse. At least he knew that the anomaly opened frequently, every few days or even sooner. Supposedly. There hadn’t been any reason for despair.  
  
Then it had started to rain.  
  


 

***

 

  
Ryan had tried to take shelter from the rain under a fallen hollow trunk, but it had been mostly useless, he had got soaked anyway. When the rain stopped he decided to start looking for a way up the cliff, to get to the anomaly site as soon as possible. He didn’t think he was too far away, but finding the right place was going to be interesting in that sea of green leaves.  
  
There were huge trees and ferns everywhere and all the ground was covered by plants and bushes so it was difficult to know what you were actually putting your foot on, as he had abruptly discovered earlier. Everything looked the same, green, wild and big, but he was going to have to find the green and wild correct spot, a small clearing in the middle of nowhere, if he wanted to go home.  
  
Fortunately the anomaly had opened to a dry land far away from any shore and with no swampy area in the surroundings so the place was reasonably free from the biggest creatures that lived in that era and even the big flying insects had avoided him so far. He had to be careful though, he wasn’t sure in which area that nasty giant centipede that attacked Stephen used to live and he didn’t have any flamethrower with him.  
  
“Well, are you coming, Rex?” Ryan said to the lizard, which was sprawled over the trunk, enjoying the sun. “Or would you rather stay there, sunbathing?"  
  
Ryan started walking and after a few moments of hesitation, Rex decided to follow him, flying ahead and then back again, and perching on a branch, waiting for Ryan to catch up with him.  
  
It was a relief, really; Ryan didn’t want to have to chase a small flying creature around an unknown territory and drag it all the way back to the anomaly, but leaving him behind, in a world where he wasn’t supposed to exist, wasn’t a good thing, Professor Cutter had insisted on that many times. Also, Abby would be very sad if he went back without Rex. And very angry too.  
  
Ryan skirted carefully around the cliff for a while, but couldn’t find an easy path to go back up. Most of it was the same sheer land covered by different plants and shrubs, but he finally found a place where the slope wasn’t too steep. It wasn’t perfect, but it was going to have to do, Ryan thought with resignation.  
  
He looked back at Rex and saw him gliding to a nearer tree and then jumping again to get to a different place. It might not be his world, but Rex definitely seemed quite comfortable in it, Ryan thought, looking at the way the creature enjoyed flying in the wilderness. He wasn’t even bothered by other flying insects.  
  
“Don’t get too far away, lad!” he said to Rex.  
  
It was nice to have somebody to talk to, even if it was just a small lizard. And sometimes it even looked as if Rex could understand what Ryan was saying to him.  
  
Taking a last look around to make sure there was no danger, Ryan slung his riffle across his back and started climbing.  
  
It was too hot to wear gloves, but he had to crawl up a slippery cliff and it would be safest that way. He didn’t have the time, or the knowledge, to distinguish the poisonous plants from the others and they would protect his hands from thorns too. Also, as he had discovered while he was crouching down under the rain, there might not be too many big creatures around, but the ground was swarming with smaller or larger insects so he had already taken the precaution of carefully tucking his trousers into his boots and zipping up everything that could be zipped, just in case.  
  
Soon it was clear that the way up was going to be long and difficult. It wasn’t the worst cliff he had had to climb, but the rain had soaked everything and the vegetation that covered the ground was so slippery that it soon started to feel as if he was trying to go up a water chute.  
  
It was terribly hard to get hold of anything to help himself up. Plants would be pulled up very easily and for every two metres he managed to climb, he would eventually slide down at least one. It wasn’t really dangerous, since the plants would stop his feet sooner or later, but it was highly annoying and it made him go terribly slowly.  
  
After what felt like an eternity, Ryan finally reached the top. He had to crawl under some giant bushes to get over the edge, crunching many unknown insects in the process, but he had finally made it. When he stood up, looking around, and he couldn’t see Rex flying anywhere, he got slightly worried, but he shouldn’t have. A now well-known chirping sounded above his head and when he looked up, Ryan saw Rex happily perched on the lowest branch of a tree.  
  
“What?” Ryan asked him. “You bored with flying already? It didn’t take me that long to get here!”  
  
Rex tilted his head to one side and then to the other, looking at him with curiosity. Well, no wonder the lizard was staring, Ryan thought, he was probably quite a sight now. His black fatigues weren’t black any more, they had turned a mix of green and brown and his face was probably sporting those colours too. He would never have managed to get a better camouflage if he had tried to do it on purpose.  
  
With Rex flying lazily in tow, Ryan started walking towards the place where he thought the anomaly was located, retracing the steps he had taken when he had been chasing Helen, or so he hoped. Now that he was up there it shouldn’t take him long to find the small clearing since he hadn’t run after her for too long before he had fallen down the cliff, but he was starting to wonder if he was going to be able to recognize the place or if he was just going to walk trough it without even noticing.  
  
When he got there, though, Ryan recognised the place immediately. In the middle of a small clearing surrounded by the same wild vegetation that was growing everywhere there was a solitary lighting stand with a red scarf tied around it.  
  
Ryan laughed heartily and stared at the stand for a few moments, thinking the image looked strangely familiar and not because of Connor’s scarf. Then he realized what it was: it kind of looked like the ever burning lamp-post in Narnia, an image that had stayed in his mind since the first time he had read the books when he was a kid. Well, this one wasn’t lighting anything since they hadn’t left the battery behind, but there was something beside the stand, a small black bag.  
  
Rex got to it first and started poking at it enthusiastically. When Ryan got closer he saw the bag was tied with a blue striped scarf, Abby’s this time. No wonder the lizard had recognised it immediately.  
  
It was the usual emergency bag, with supplies for a few days and a small first aid kit. It looked like they had had time to leave that for him before they had rushed back through the anomaly. Well, for them, Ryan corrected himself as he watched Rex trying to put his head inside the bag, probably looking for food.  
  
Ryan closed the bag, moving the impatient lizard away, and slung it over his shoulder. Food problem solved for now, it was time to find a good place for shelter, Ryan thought. He checked the surrounding area and chose a tree with big branches that would hold him without problems. There weren’t any big dinosaurs wandering around, but a high position would be safer than staying on the ground, even if that wasn’t going to make a difference for the giant flying insects that lived there.  
  
Ryan untied Connor’s scarf and put it in the bag before leaving the clearing. That had been a nice touch from the kid and he didn’t want to lose it, he wanted to give it back to him when the anomaly reopened. Connor was incredibly naive and over-enthusiastic, but he was very smart and a good lad.  
Climbing that tree was fortunately a rather easy task and soon Ryan reached some entangled branches that would make a nice shelter. From there he still could see very clearly the lighting stand and there was no way he would miss the anomaly when it appeared again.  
  
“Hey, Rex!” Ryan shouted.  
  
The creature was still sniffing around the clearing, probably wondering why Abby wasn’t there, but he turned his head when he heard Ryan and flied towards him.  
  
“Don’t worry, lad,” he told him. “Abby will be back pretty soon. Now let’s have something to eat.”  
  
There was enough food to share and anyway, the anomaly would probably open in a day or two. It was what had been happening in the last weeks, there was no reason to panic yet. Right now, the thing that was bothering him the most was the epic scolding Lester was going to give him.  
  


 

***

 

  
The anomaly didn’t mess with him and opened, as expected, a day later.  
  
As soon as Ryan saw his men coming through it, with Connor, Abby and Cutter in tow, he approached them slowly and let them know everything was OK. The soldiers’ relief was evident, but the most enthusiastic greeting he got came from Abby and Connor, who walked after the soldiers with big smiles on their faces.  
  
Abby walked straight to him and hugged him without hesitation. Ryan was slightly surprised, but he returned the hug gratefully. She was gone in an instant, though, calling for Rex, who didn’t waste a moment before flying straight to her. Connor came closer, grinning widely, and then faltered, obviously trying to decide if he could hug him or not. The boy finally opted for just raising his hand to Ryan.  
  
“Good to see you are OK, man!” Connor said with a bright smile.  
  
Ryan had already ignored a high-five from Connor before and he didn’t think the boy deserved it again so he slapped his hand and smiled back at him. Even though it seemed impossible, Connor’s smile grew even wider.  
  
“Thanks, Connor,” Ryan said. “It hasn’t been too bad, but I really want to go back and take a long shower!”  
  
“Yes, well, about that...” Professor Cutter said as he walked towards them. “I’m sorry to tell you that it looks like Lester wants to see you as soon as you get back.”  
  
Ryan sighed with resignation, to Cutter’s amusement.  
  
“Don’t worry, captain,” Cutter added, seemingly taking pity on him. “I’m sure we can distract Lester for a while, right, Connor?”  
  
“Well, I have a new theory about the reasons why this anomaly reopens again and again in the same period and well, I do need to get more data, just to be sure and really, you never get too much information about things like these, but the readings we’ve got so far indicate very clearly, in my opinion, that it’s possib-“  
  
“See, captain?” Cutter interrupted, winking at Ryan. “I think we can get you at least half an hour with this. C’mon, Connor, let’s go back,” he added clapping the boy’s shoulder.  
  
They started walking towards the anomaly and Ryan promptly followed them, smiling.  
  
When he had learnt that his team was going to have to deal with civilians in the field he had feared the worst, but this lot wasn’t so bad after all. He could get used to working with them, even if they didn’t seem to know how to follow orders at all.

  
END

 


End file.
